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Alexandra Asche

A sophomore Psychology major, Biology minor, and English enthusiast, Alexandra is a self-proclaimed nerd of multiple realms. In her free time, she scours the internet, searching for sophisticated fan fics and vids that further develop her favorite fictional characters. Aside from that, she also likes to devour all sorts of books and take on her own literary endeavors, including being a co-chair for the on-campus writing club and literary magazine Floating World. She will not judge you if you come into the Writing Center in your pajamas and in desperate need of some tissues, and she's happy to work with you at any stage in your writing process, whether it's brainstorming ideas or venting your feels, starting to put some words down on the page, stitching ideas together, structuring and organizing, in-depth analysis and development, or just fine-tuning. She might even have some candies waiting for you on her desk.

Sam Benson

Sam is a senior majoring in English and History, and minoring in Philosophy... which means he has to read a lot for his classes. However, he enjoys reading, so that works out pretty nicely. He also likes writing (when he has time), playing video games and various tabletop role-playing games, and creating random storylines in his head that go nowhere. Even if he finds himself stretched for time, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have time to help out in the Writing Center. Though tutoring in the Writing Center will be a new experience for him, he's always enjoyed working with people to figure out what they’re really trying to say in their work, as well as assuring people that their writing is never as unsalvageable as they think it is.

Kelsey Butler

Kelsey is a senior majoring in English. In addition to working at the Writing Center, she serves on the board of UMM's Prairie Gate Literary Festival (she is more of a consumer than a creator of literary fiction and non-fiction), teaches adult ESL on Monday nights (so has plenty of experience breaking down tough concepts into consumable tidbits), works as a research assistant in English discipline (so she has a lot of experience with academic writing and has even been known to browse Project Muse for fun), and geeks out about research (especially pulling loose ends together to come up with cool/interesting/unique topic). She is especially interested in developmental psychology/cultural anthropology/education/English and hopes to combine them all one day into some sort of mega-career.

Brittany Grady

As a sophomore who loves reading, writing, and words, it’s kind of a no-brainer that she’s double-majoring in English and German Studies. Her passions—apart from the ones mentioned above—include laughing, Disney, and doing and discussing what you’re passionate about with others. She’s a big supporter of personal improvement and no-judgment attitudes, so she tries to implement those things into her everyday life. Currently, she works with the Office of Sustainability and is part of Floating World’s executive board, but after her time at UMM, she hopes to make it as a successful fiction novelist.

Kelsey Jopp

If there’s anything Kelsey loves more than writing, it’s conversing with other writers about their work. She believes that the writing process—whether academic or creative—can be both enlightening and exciting (especially if the writer isn’t in it alone). After Morris, Kelsey hopes to use her double major in English and Management to enter the book publishing industry and become an editor of young adult and middle grade fiction. If that doesn’t work out, she may train Shelties for a living and/or join a girl band. In the meantime, she’s a CA in Spooner and editor-in-chief of the campus literary magazine, Floating World. For fun, she likes to buy more books than she can read and daydream about stories that can’t all make it to the page. Most of all, she’s excited to work in the writing center this year and assist student writers in developing and refining their ideas.

Brad Mondloch

Brad is a senior biology major who is currently applying to medical schools. On top of helping in the writing center, he works in the biology department both as a teaching assistant and a research assistant. He knows how to write a great lab report or other scientific paper, but is more than happy to help with any writing assignment you have. He understands the struggles of waiting to finish a paper until the night before it’s due, so come talk to him before that happens.

Dan Nicla

Dan Nicla is a junior English major. Dan's hobbies include playing guitar and thinking about what he might someday do with his English major! But actually, if thinking about what job you could someday get was a hobby, Dan would probably be an expert. As an avid lover of good coffee, he wouldn't be too mad if you were to bring him coffee at your appointment... not that you would ever bring coffee into the library *cough cough*. Dan is on the Symphonic Winds Council, is a Community Adviser in Indy, and has been involved in theater for his entire life (although limitedly at UMM). Come visit him in the Writing Center sometime!

Jessye Rodgers

Jessye has spent her entire life plagued with the knowledge that her name will never be on Christmas ornaments or, more recently, Coke bottles. She is an English major and a French minor currently in the process of adding on a Studio Art major. When she is not accidentally spilling whipped cream everywhere behind the Higbies counter, playing her favorite music on KUMM, or attending Art Club, she is trying not to fall asleep on the comfy loveseat in the library. Jessye used to struggle a lot with writing, so she knows how simultaneously awful and rewarding it can be. Come in and meet with her if you need help jumping over the hurdle that is writer’s block, brainstorming, drafting up ideas, restructuring your paper, or if you just want to talk through an assignment. And hey, she’ll probably even give you an awesome movie recommendation, too.

Tisha Turk, Writing Center Director

Tisha teaches English courses at UMM. She likes writing a lot and has gotten pretty good at it over the years, but she also knows it can be a pain, so she's happy to commiserate with people who are feeling frustrated or stuck. Her PhD is in English literature, but she has experience working with writers in lots of different fields in the sciences and social sciences as well as humanities and education. She's the person to talk to for help with personal statements for graduate school, but she's also happy to help with ordinary papers for either intro or advanced classes. When she's not working in the Writing Center or teaching, she's usually reading, gardening, hanging out with her cats, baking really awesome brownies, rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or hitting refresh on Tumblr. These days she is also writing a book about media fandom, a process that reminds her on a daily basis that writing can be simultaneously awesome and annoying.

The University of Minnesota, Morris is a public liberal arts University that provides a rigorous undergraduate liberal arts education, preparing its students to be global citizens who value and pursue intellectual growth, civic engagement, intercultural competence, and environmental stewardship.